Governor halts $1.89 million set for West Alabama schools

Money shift hidden in UA’s budget

Money from the appropriation would have benefited schools in state Sen. Phil Poole’s district.

By Dana BeyerleMontgomery Bureau Chief

Published: Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, October 9, 2009 at 11:59 p.m.

MONTGOMERY | Gov. Bob Riley stopped a $1.89 million appropriation hidden in the University of Alabama’s budget that would have gone to school systems in the West Alabama Senate district of a political opponent.

A state senator on the Senate education budget committee said Friday he believes the $1.89 million was in the Education Trust Fund budget to reward Sen. Phil Poole,

D-Tuscaloosa, for a vote that defeated Riley’s attempt to control the state Senate in January 2007.

“I guess it came from the organizational session. It’s what Sen. Poole was promised,” said Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, a member of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Budget Committee. “It’s his district where the money is going.”

At the outset of the 2007 organizational session of the Legislature, Riley believed that Poole would support his Senate rules and leadership candidates. But Poole switched at the last minute and supported the status quo Senate leadership that is friendly to the Alabama Education Association. The teachers’ union is often at odds with Riley.

The AEA had given Poole a $10,000 campaign contribution the day before the vote on the Senate leadership. Poole later returned the money, records show.

Poole did not respond to phone calls or e-mails Thursday and Friday.

At the time, Poole said he voted for Sen. Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove, to be president pro tem of the Senate, instead of Riley’s choice, because it would be better for his district, which includes the University of Alabama and Shelton State Community College.

Poole also sided with Gov. Don Siegelman in the 1999 Senate organizational session and received tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, for his district, primarily for interstate and other road projects.

Riley said Thursday he told acting finance director Bill Newton not to sign a Sept. 15 interagency agreement to transfer the $1.89 million from the university to the state Department of Education, because the appropriation violated the governor’s ban on “pass-through” legislative appropriations, commonly called “pork.”

The $1.89 million was not visible in the 2009-2010 education budget passed earlier this year, said Riley, who early in his administration banned pass-through appropriations to state agencies and departments.

“We’re not going to participate or allow it, because it’s a classic example [of] what we’ve been fighting for seven and a half years,” Riley said.

The unapproved interagency agreement would have shifted the money from the university’s budget to the Department of Education for spending in the Hale and Tuscaloosa county school systems and the Tuscaloosa city school system.

The governor said he became aware of the appropriation after UA President Robert Witt requested an attorney general’s opinion on whether the transfer would be legal.

In the advisory opinion, dated Sept. 3, Attorney General Troy King said the university could transfer the money, but only within the dictates of the Budget Management Act, which requires either governor or state finance director approval.

The opinion, based on information provided by Witt, said the Legislature included $2.4 million in the university’s budget for distribution to K-12 school systems in Hale, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, but that the amount was reduced to $1.89 million by proration.

The difference between the school systems identified in the interagency agreement and the attorney general’s opinion was not explained.

Nonetheless, the counties and school systems are in the Senate district of Poole, who is known for his ability to secure state funding. Means said he could not prove the appropriation was Poole’s, but because of “his track record I would think that it was.”

There is no budget trail identifying the appropriation, the Legislative Fiscal Office said.

The money was to be used to address health and safety, classroom instruction and facility needs, King’s opinion said.

“To facilitate the distribution of those funds, the university created the West Alabama Legacy School Assistance Program within the university’s college of education,” the opinion said.

UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Budget Committee, put the $2.4 million in the university’s budget, but that the legacy program never functioned.

“Although the concept for this program was developed, it was determined that it would be more effective for the University of Alabama and the state Department of Education to distribute the monies to K-12,” Andreen said.

Poole is deputy chairman of the education budget committee. Sanders could not be reached for comment.

Andreen said Witt and UA System Chancellor Malcolm Portera discussed the proposed money shift and agreed with the opinion.

The $1.89 million interagency agreement was for the period between Sept. 15, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2010, the end of the fiscal year.

But the agreement did not go into effect and the money remains in the university’s budget, Newton said.

Riley, who is president of the UA board of trustees, praised Witt for not wanting the money. “My point is everyone has professed to be against pass-through pork, but someone continues to try to continue to use it,” Riley said.

<p>MONTGOMERY | Gov. Bob Riley stopped a $1.89 million appropriation hidden in the University of Alabama’s budget that would have gone to school systems in the West Alabama Senate district of a political opponent.</p><p>A state senator on the Senate education budget committee said Friday he believes the $1.89 million was in the Education Trust Fund budget to reward Sen. Phil Poole, </p><p>D-Tuscaloosa, for a vote that defeated Riley’s attempt to control the state Senate in January 2007.</p><p>I guess it came from the organizational session. It’s what Sen. Poole was promised, said Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, a member of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Budget Committee. It’s his district where the money is going.</p><p>At the outset of the 2007 organizational session of the Legislature, Riley believed that Poole would support his Senate rules and leadership candidates. But Poole switched at the last minute and supported the status quo Senate leadership that is friendly to the Alabama Education Association. The teachers’ union is often at odds with Riley.</p><p>The AEA had given Poole a $10,000 campaign contribution the day before the vote on the Senate leadership. Poole later returned the money, records show.</p><p>Poole did not respond to phone calls or e-mails Thursday and Friday.</p><p>At the time, Poole said he voted for Sen. Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove, to be president pro tem of the Senate, instead of Riley’s choice, because it would be better for his district, which includes the University of Alabama and Shelton State Community College.</p><p>Poole also sided with Gov. Don Siegelman in the 1999 Senate organizational session and received tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, for his district, primarily for interstate and other road projects.</p><p>Riley said Thursday he told acting finance director Bill Newton not to sign a Sept. 15 interagency agreement to transfer the $1.89 million from the university to the state Department of Education, because the appropriation violated the governor’s ban on pass-through legislative appropriations, commonly called pork.</p><p>The $1.89 million was not visible in the 2009-2010 education budget passed earlier this year, said Riley, who early in his administration banned pass-through appropriations to state agencies and departments.</p><p>We’re not going to participate or allow it, because it’s a classic example [of] what we’ve been fighting for seven and a half years, Riley said.</p><p>The unapproved interagency agreement would have shifted the money from the university’s budget to the Department of Education for spending in the Hale and Tuscaloosa county school systems and the Tuscaloosa city school system.</p><p>The governor said he became aware of the appropriation after UA President Robert Witt requested an attorney general’s opinion on whether the transfer would be legal.</p><p>In the advisory opinion, dated Sept. 3, Attorney General Troy King said the university could transfer the money, but only within the dictates of the Budget Management Act, which requires either governor or state finance director approval.</p><p>The opinion, based on information provided by Witt, said the Legislature included $2.4 million in the university’s budget for distribution to K-12 school systems in Hale, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, but that the amount was reduced to $1.89 million by proration. </p><p>The difference between the school systems identified in the interagency agreement and the attorney general’s opinion was not explained.</p><p>Nonetheless, the counties and school systems are in the Senate district of Poole, who is known for his ability to secure state funding. Means said he could not prove the appropriation was Poole’s, but because of his track record I would think that it was.</p><p>There is no budget trail identifying the appropriation, the Legislative Fiscal Office said.</p><p>The money was to be used to address health and safety, classroom instruction and facility needs, King’s opinion said. </p><p>To facilitate the distribution of those funds, the university created the West Alabama Legacy School Assistance Program within the university’s college of education, the opinion said.</p><p>UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Budget Committee, put the $2.4 million in the university’s budget, but that the legacy program never functioned.</p><p>Although the concept for this program was developed, it was determined that it would be more effective for the University of Alabama and the state Department of Education to distribute the monies to K-12, Andreen said.</p><p>Poole is deputy chairman of the education budget committee. Sanders could not be reached for comment.</p><p>Andreen said Witt and UA System Chancellor Malcolm Portera discussed the proposed money shift and agreed with the opinion.</p><p>The $1.89 million interagency agreement was for the period between Sept. 15, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2010, the end of the fiscal year.</p><p>But the agreement did not go into effect and the money remains in the university’s budget, Newton said.</p><p>Riley, who is president of the UA board of trustees, praised Witt for not wanting the money. My point is everyone has professed to be against pass-through pork, but someone continues to try to continue to use it, Riley said.</p>